Early voting starts

Ballots for June 3 primary available at auditors' offices

Ballots for June 3 primary available at auditors' offices

April 22, 2008|By Scott Waltman, swaltman@aberdeennews.com

People who have chosen candidates can start voting in the June primary. Early voting has begun at the Brown County Auditor's Office, said Auditor Maxine Taylor. Voting can be done weekdays during regular hours, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., she said. The auditor's office is at the Brown County Courthouse Annex, 25 Market St., Aberdeen. Sample ballots are also available at the auditor's office. The primary election is June 3. New service: South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson announced a new Internet service on Monday that lets people check their voter registration information and view ballots they will be casting for the primaries. Nelson said the new service will allow people to study the races ahead of time. Republicans, Democrats and independents can view their respective sample ballots with candidate choices. The primary ballot offers a Democrat or Republican presidential primary, a Republican U.S. Senate primary, as well as legislative and county primaries. In some places, municipal elections, school elections, and county ballot questions are also on the ballot. The new service is called Voter Information Portal, or VIP for short. Nelson said people can get the tailored information by merely typing in their names and birth dates. “You will see your precinct and polling place name and address,” he said. “If there is a problem finding a match or a voter is not registered, VIP will offer voter registration assistance and contact information for South Dakota's county auditors, who administer our elections.” Nelson said the new service has been his dream since before he was elected secretary of state. “While other states and jurisdictions offer somewhat similar voter portals, I am not aware of any that offers so much specialized information for so little effort,” he said. “Our state voter file, which my office administers in close cooperation with the state's county auditors, is really a powerful tool.” Once on the Web site, go to “Elections & Voter Registration” and click on “Voter Information Portal.” Brown County elections: In Brown County, all voters in the Aberdeen school district will elect three school board members. Candidates for the three-year terms include:

Brian Sharp, incumbent

Scott Wirth, incumbent

Robert Nikolas, incumbent

Gary Job. Democrats in legislative District 2 will select two candidates to advance to the Nov. 4 general election. District 2 includes part of Aberdeen, most of rural Brown County and all of Spink County. Candidates include:

John Graham

H. Paul Dennert, incumbent

Elaine Elliott All Democrats will vote for a presidential candidate, choosing between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Republicans can also choose a presidential candidate as Ron Paul, John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are on the ballot, although McCain is the presumptive nominee. There are no local Republican primary races, but there is a statewide race to determine who the U.S. Senate candidate will be in November. Those vying include:

Sam Kepart

Charles Gonyo

Joel Dykstra Taylor said people who want to do so can use electronic voting machines. She said the office will be open May 31 - the Saturday before the primary - from 8 a.m. to noon to give voters extra time to cast ballots. Online: www.sdsos.gov The Associated Press contributed to this report.